Latin America through Soviet Eyes Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Soviet perceptions of Latin America's global role
- Part II Soviet perceptions of Latin American social structures
- Part III Soviet–Latin American relations during the Brezhnev era
- Part IV Conclusion: the emerging Soviet perception of Latin America and the future of Soviet policy toward the hemisphere
- Conclusions
- Epilogue – Latin America: the Long March
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Soviet perceptions of Latin America's global role
- Part II Soviet perceptions of Latin American social structures
- Part III Soviet–Latin American relations during the Brezhnev era
- Part IV Conclusion: the emerging Soviet perception of Latin America and the future of Soviet policy toward the hemisphere
- Conclusions
- Epilogue – Latin America: the Long March
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Lenin was not interested in the socialist movement in Mexico. He realized it was bound to be rudimentary. But he was interested in the people of Mexico, in their relationship to the United States, in whether there was strong opposition to the United States.
Manuel Gómez (Charlie Philips) upon return from the Second Comintern, 1920Latin America is a collection of US satellites.
Stalin, 1946The Monroe Doctrine is dead.
Nikita Khrushchev, 1960The Soviet attitude toward Latin America is analogous to that of the United States. It is a colonial attitude; the Soviets have respect for American power and contempt for Latin American weakness.
Herbert Dinerstein, 1968Two decades ago there was only Cuba in Latin America, today there are Nicaragua, Grenada and a serious battle going on in El Salvador.
Marshal Ogarkov, 1983The traditional Soviet perception of Latin America was totally determined by two key factors. First, because of the great distance between Russia and Latin America and the paucity of historical contacts, a salient feature of the Soviet perception of the continent was Moscow's inordinate ignorance concerning Latin America and its inability to comprehend fully the political dynamics of the continent. Second was the Soviet perception of the region, from Lenin on, set almost entirely in the context of Latin America's relationship with the United States.
Although the Comintern did establish its presence in Latin America as early as 1920 and supported several communist-led uprisings on the continent during the 1920s and the 1930s, Latin America was perceived by Moscow as the “strategic rear” of the United States.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Latin America through Soviet EyesThe Evolution of Soviet Perceptions during the Brezhnev Era 1964–1982, pp. 1 - 4Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1990